Illuminating device.



H. S. STRONG.

ILLUMINATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27,1911.

1,043,981, I Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. S. STRONG.

ILLUMINATING DEVICE.

A'PPLIOATION FILED MAY 27,1911.

1,043,981 Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 H. S. STRONG.

ILLUMINATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27,1911. 1 ,043,98 1 Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

igi/knew HENRY s. s'rnone, or MEAD, wasinncrron.

ILLUMINATIKG DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed Kay 27, 1911. SerialNo. 629,833.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912'.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, HENRY S. STRONG, acitizen of the United .States,residin at Mead,'in the county of Spokane and tate of Washington, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Illuminating Devices, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to electrical illuminating devices, and hasforits object to provide an appliance adapted for use as an amusementnovelty, to attract public attention, or for use in demonstrating thecomposition of light and color. v

Another object is to provide a desirable commutator mechanism of simpleconstruction, adaptable to use in various other. forms of devices wherethe illumination is intermittently varied in color'or arrangement ofunits.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and from the drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front view of the machine, Fig. 2 is a top view thereof,partly in section, the electrical source and connections being showndiagrammatically, Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the face of thecommutator disk, Fig.4 is a similar view to Fig. 3, showing thelightdisk, and brushes, the wiring being illustrated dia ammatically,Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic viewof the wiring system, Figs. 6 and 7 aredetail views of one of the light units, Fig. 8 is a fragmentarysectional view of a modification of the device showing the lightcarrying disk secured positively to the driving shaft ,while thecommutator disk is made revoluble thereon, Fig. 9'is a similar viewillustrating a detail of the commutator construction in a modification,Fig.10 is a fragmentary section showing the relation of the brushes tothe ring in the modification last mentioned, Fig. 11 is a detail crosssection through the bearing looking toward the front- I There is shown asupport 10 of any de sirable form, adapted to be set upon a table orother surface, and carrying an electric motor 11 of any usual typesuitable for my purposes. The support 10--- is provided at its upper endwith suitable journal-boxes 12 in which there is journaled the hollowshaft 13 upon one end of which there is secured the pulley 14 from whicha suitable belt 15 is run to the pulley 16 of the motor. Secured uponthe shaft 13 a spaced distance inwardly of its extremity oppositely ofthe pulley 14, there is a large disk 17 of insulating material, andsecured concentrically thereon is the annular commutator plate or ring18 having portions stamped outwardly therefrom at an inclinationopposite the direction of its rotation, and formin commutator points 19.The disk carries the peripheral forwardly projecting guard flange 20,and rotating freely within this flange there is a light disk 21,carrying a radially disposed brush bar 22 havin a multiplicity ofindividual insulated brus cs 23 projecting toward the ring 18 andarranged to engage the points 19 in passing. The disk 21 is engagedrevolubly on the projecting extremity of the shaft 13, and held thereonin any suitable manner. Carried upon the front face of the disk 21 thereis a multiplicity of light units 24 arranged in concentric series, andpreferably including translucent or light diffusing members,

the diffusing members in adjacent series hemg arranged as may be foundmost desirable to present an even field of light as nearly as possible,when the wheel is rotated. Any desirable form of light unit suitable forthe purpose may be utilized,

and in the embodiment of theinvention illustrated, the ordinaryincandescent bulb' is utilized, spring clip arms 25 being spaced inplace suitably on the disk, and clamped upon the threaded bases 26 ofthe bulbs by means of bolts 27 engaged through theextremities of theclip arms, as maybe readily understood. The bulbsgare extended outwardlyfrom the point of their securement,

so that the strain of centrifugal force produced under rapid rotation ofthe device will occur in a direction least likely to result in damage.The circuit is made through the central contacts of the lights by meansof an annular cap 28' threaded upon the base of the bulbs confining awasher 29 of insulating material in which is carried a binding post 30one end of which is arranged to bear against the central contact of thelam and the other engaged with a wire 31 which is led to a correspondingbrush 23 on the brush bar 22. The circuit with the light is completedthrough the disk 21 itself and the shaft 13, connection with theelectrical source being made directly between one shaft journal and anelectrical source, as at A. At B a connection of opposite potential ismade" through a brush 33, between the electrical source and a commutatordevice consisting in a disk 32 of insulating material secured upon theshaft 13 and carrying a commutator ring 33' from which a wire 34 isextended into the shaft and carried. to a point adjacent thedisk 17where it is brought out and connected to the ring 18 at 35, as shown.Two or more of the lights in the same concentric series may be connectedwith the same brush 23, as found desirable for the effects which it issought to produce, and it will be seen that when a particular brush 23comes in contact with one of the points 19 the respective light orlights connected with the brush are illuminated.

It is desired to rotate the light disk 21 rapidly, by means of-theconnection between the motor and the large disk 14 while certain of thelights upon the disk are in circuit with the electrical source producingan illuminative effect. Various colors may be produced by having lightunits producing the basic colors and white, spaced at proper intervals,various combinations. Thus if a green light is desired the yellow andblue lights should be illuminated, and this may be made light or dark intone by including one or more while lights in the combination. Cncentric bands of different colored lights may be produced with pleasingeffect.

For producing relative rotation between the light disk and thecommutator disk to change the light combinations, there s mounted on thedisk 17 behind the commutator disk a radial shaft 37 having at its outerend a small gear 38 meshing with an annular rack 39 .on the disk 21outwardly of the commutator ring 18. At its inner end the shaft 37carries a worm-wheel 4O engaged by a worm 41 extending at right anglesto the plane of the disk 17, the shaft- 12 of the worm carrying a starwheel 43 inwardly of the disk 17, and arranged so that its fingers willengage or strike a lug 4-1 fixed rigidly upon the journal-box 12thereadjacent. Thus it will be seen that during rotation of the devicethe points 19 will successively engage the brush 23, and by arrangingthe points 19 in variously spaced radial series around the disk 18various combinations of lights will be produced automatically in anyeffects desired.

In Figs. 9 and 10 a modification is shown in which, instead of the wirev3 1 being con nected to the commutator plate it is carried outwardlythrough the shaft and to a brush 50, carried upon the brush bar 22 andbearingconstantly against a portion of the ring 18 whereby the sameeffects above described are attained. The construction of the means forrotating the devices relatively is the same, and also produces the sameresult. It

' may be found desirable to produce various and illuminatedsimultaneously in forms of commutator disks, that is to say having theportions 19 so spaced as to produce new combination of lights, orpresenting old combinations in a different sequence, and to facilitatesuch use of the device the ring may be made detachable as at 51.

What is claimed is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a support, a revolublehollow shaft carried thereby, a disk of insulating material secured tothe shaft, a metal disk revoluble on and in electrical contact with theshaft 'outwardly'of the first named disk, a

- plurality of electrical illuminating units on the outer disk, aplurality of insulated brush members carried by the outer disk, seriesconnections between certain brushes, certain illuminating devices andthe outer disk, commutator devices carried by the inner disk and adaptedto engage certain of the brushes upon relative rotation of the disks,

an insulated commutator ring engaged around the shaft, electricalconnection between the ring and the commutator device first named, meansfor connecting the shaft and the ring electrically with electricalelements of opposite potential, means for rotating the shaft, and meansfor causing relative rotation of the disks.

2. A device of the class described comprising a support, a hollow shaftrevoluble thereon, an annular commutator element carried thereby andinsulated therefrom, said commutator member havinga multiplicity ofvariously spaced contact ortions, a light supporting member revolub e onthe shaft and carrying a plurality of electrical illuminating units, amultiplicity of radially spaced brushes adapted to engage snugly thecontact portions of the commutator member, connections between therespective brush members and certain of the illuminating units, andbetween the said units and the support, means for rotating the lightsupport and commutator elements in the same direction, and means fordifferentiating the rate of movement of commutator member and lightsupport.

3. A device of the class described comprising a support, a main shaftrevoluble there on, a commutator carrier on the shaft, an annularcommutator plate carried thereby, a light carrier revolubleeon the shaftadjacent the first named carrier, different colored electricalilluminating units carried thereby, brush members carried thereby forengagement with the commutator, electrical connections between thebrushes and the illuminating units, electrical connections for thecommutator and illuminating units, an annular rack face carried by thelight sup port, a radial shaft carried by the commutator support, a gearon the shaft to mesh with the rack face, a second gear on the shaft, :1second shaft carried by-the commu- Q tator support, a worm on the lastnamed shaft meshing with the second named gear,-

'4. In a device of the class described, a

support, a li ht elementand a commutator element revo uble thereon,means for causing differentiated rotation of the said light andcommutator elements in a common direction, electrical illuminatingelements carried by the light element, contact elements on said lightelement connected respectively to certain of the illuminating elements,commutator units carried by the commutator element and operative underoperation of the light and commutator elements to respectively engagecertain contact elements and make and break a circuit through theilluminating'elem'ents, and means for making a circuit through theilluminating ele* ments and commutator element.

5. In a device of the class described, a

commutator element and a brush carrying element relatively revolubleupon a common axis, the commutator element having amultiplicity ofvariously spaced commutator units, a plurality of brush units carried bythe brush carryin element and adapted for engagement individually withcertain of the commutator units upon relative rotation of the commutatorelement and brush carrying element, a multiplicity of electrical devicescarried by one of the revoluble'elements and electrical connectionsbetween respective units on such element and certain of the electricaldevices, means for rotating the revoluble elements differentially in acommon di-- rection, and means for connecting the commutator andelectrical devices in series with an electrical source.

,In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of'twosubscribing wit- HENRY S. STRONG.

Witnesses p L. L. A'I'HSH, FRED. 0. Mom.

I HBSSES.

